Jenn's Review: Shadowspell

 Summary:  On top of spending most of her time in a bunkerlike safe house and having her dates hijacked by a formidable Fae bodyguard, Faeriewalker Dana Hathaway is in for some more bad news: the Erlking and his pack of murderous minions known as the Wild Hunt have descended upon Avalon. With his homicidal appetite and immortal powers, the Erlking has long been the nightmare of the Fae realm.

A fragile treaty with the Faerie Queen, sealed with a mysterious spell, is the one thing that keeps him from hunting unchecked in Avalon, the only place on Earth where humans and Fae live together. Which means Dana’s in trouble, since it’s common knowledge that the Faerie Queen wants her – and her rare Faeriewalker powers – dead. The smoldering, sexy Erlking’s got his sights set on Dana, but does he only seek to kill her, or does he have something much darker in mind?

Review:  I'm honestly not sure why I continue to read Jenna Black's Faeriewalker series except to say that it's like a gruesome accident that I can't seem to look away from.  In my review of  Glimmerglass I mentioned that I loved the surrounding characters and the magical world that was created, but didn't like Dana.  If possible, my dislike for the protagonist has only intensified.

Dana is impetuous and self-absorbed.  Her life is in danger three times over and boo-hoo she can't go to her best friend's birthday party.  I know let's sneak out.  Apparently no one's told her that to be a martyr, she needs to be deceased.  If she'd learn her lesson, perhaps I could tolerate her a little more, but at the expense of her friends and family Dana continues to stick her neck out and is subsequently surprised when someone takes a swing at it.  There's a term for those who do the same things over and over and expect the results to be different.

With Glimmerglass the surrounding characters saved the story for me, but they were a little too absent in this one to salvage it for me.  Also, I found the story-line abhorrent.  While I would like to know what happens to the rest of the characters, I'm not sure I could suffer through another round of Dana to find out.  Somebody find me the cliff notes.

Final Take:  2/5